


Blossoms, Cherries, Warriors, Men

by DeathKorpsOfKarl



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29621208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathKorpsOfKarl/pseuds/DeathKorpsOfKarl
Summary: The Kishal Steppe has existed for thousands of years. The Kishal people are nomads and horselords, but despite their mobile lifestyle, the Steppe is among the most stagnant places in the world. But when a man claiming to be Heaven's Chosen unites the warring and disparate Kishal tribes, the world will tremble as it did centuries ago.So how can a warrior monk, a carefree prince, and a lost girl from the Steppe possibly stand in his way?
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)





	Blossoms, Cherries, Warriors, Men

Sitting atop a rock, Venera tightened the laces and wiggled her toes. While they didn’t fit perfectly, it was better than she had expected. Using the sharpened leg bones of sheep, she had crafted a pair of makeshift ice skates. The knuckle bones were still in her pocket, and after this, she planned on turning them into a set of dice.

Yet despite all the trouble she went through, this was still the easy part. In the past, Mother had done this a few times when they were truly desperate, but while she could replicate the ice skates, the same could not be said about the ability to use them. Taking a deep breath, Venera waddled off the snow and onto the ice. Before she could even plant both feet however, she slipped and fell. Behind her, Novak neighed, and she was certain that he was laughing at her.

“Would you like to try this?” Venera asked, rising carefully. While she managed to stand, she looked more like a newborn horse than anything else. “I’m sure that I could make a set for you.” Looking away, Novak remained silent. “That’s what I thought.”

After finding her footing, Venera took baby steps toward the middle of the lake. Eventually, careful footfalls became bold strides, and surely enough, she began gliding across the ice. She cut elegant swirls across the frozen surface, and confident in her ability to not fall flat on her face, she took up her bow. With an arrow nocked, Venera moved toward the lake’s center, where her prey was.

During this time of year it was common for animals to use frozen bodies of water as protection. Hunters on foot couldn’t hope to catch them, and hunters on horseback were in danger of breaking the ice. However with a pair of skates, Venera could hunt them down wherever they went. Shifting her weight, and staying low, she closed in on the herd of goats.

While their meat would always be a valuable commodity, that wasn’t what she was hunting them for. Instead it was their black, cashmere coats that she sought. It was one of the few luxuries that the Steppe had to offer, and even kings would pay a handsome price for a cashmere coat. It was a group of four, but that soon changed as they split off. It didn’t matter though. Venera just needed one, and she chose to pursue the largest of the bunch.

The goat was quick, but it didn’t possess the fine control over the ice that she did. It zigged-zagged across the lake, but every now and then it would slip, and Venera would gain a few inches on it. Finally, when she was certain that the goat was hers, her heart slowed, she drew, and loosed. Her aim was true, and the arrow penetrated the back of the goat’s head. It tumbled forward and skidded across the ice before finally coming to a halt. 

“Woo hoo!” Venera said, raising her bow and taking a victory lap around the dead goat. “Did you see that?” She turned to Novak, but her steed was busy nibbling on a patch of shrubs. “Of course you didn’t,” she mumbled.

Slinging her bow across her back, Venera removed the arrow, wiped off the blood, and dragged the carcass off the lake. Novak came to her side, and after skinning it and wrapping up the pelt, she secured its remains to her saddle and rode back to town. Her first stop would be with Igor, the butcher. Out of everyone in the village, he easily treated her the best, due in no small part to the meat that she would bring him. Her next stop was Kotev, and he was the reason she went through all this trouble in the first place.

Despite being an inch taller than him, Father’s armor was still too large on her. Even after Mother had granted it to her all those years ago, she couldn’t wear it, not effectively at least. However she also couldn’t afford to have Kotev, the town blacksmith, refit it for her.

That had been until she discovered that his wife’s birthday was coming up. She had convinced him that a black cashmere pelt could make a fine coat, and he agreed that his wife’s happiness was easily worth a few hours of armor alterations. 

Venera dropped the meat off with Igor, who told her to return tomorrow morning if she wanted the spoils of her hunt. However as she stepped outside his shop, two masked individuals were attempting to remove the pelt from the side of her saddle. Novak was having none of it however, and he cried, struggled, and bucked. It was too early in the day for this to happen. Venera groaned and nocked an arrow.

“Hitomi,” she said, “Yezik. Is that you?”

The two stepped back, and it was Hitomi that removed her mask first. “Venera,” she said, smiling and crossing her arms. “You came out right on time. We were planning on stealing that pelt, but now that you’re here, you can just hand it over.”

“And...why would I do that?” Venera said. She tried to sound threatening, but even with an arrow at the ready, she wouldn’t have been able to scare a mouse.

“Because,” Hitomi said, coming forward until she was less than a foot from Venera, “what are _you_ going to? Shoot us? We both know how this is going to happen. Either you give it to us directly, or you let us take it. And if you’re brave enough to resist, we can always pry it from your unconscious hands.”

It would have been so easy. She could shoot flying birds from a hundred feet away, and hit apples resting on the heads of her friends. But these weren’t just animals or inanimate objects. They were people, rude and snobbish as they were. Even if she didn’t kill them, shooting someone in the leg over a pelt wasn’t worth it. 

Hitomi was mere inches away now, and her eyes beared down on her like a storm. Venera gritted her teeth and tugged on the bowstring, only to sigh as she let it slowly fall back into place. She looked away, and Hitomi patted her on the shoulder.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, smiling as Yezik removed the pelt. “I suppose I should be thanking you though. I’ve always wanted a cashmere coat, so I’ll be sure to think of you whenever I wear it.”

Yezik screamed, and Hitomi spun around. Reiko had swept his legs with her staff, and he struggled to no avail as the monk placed her knee on his chest. “Run,” she said. Without a word, Hitomi nodded, took her brother, and scurried away. The coldness in Reiko’s voice and the fire in her eyes almost made Venera flee as well. “How many times has it been this month?” She leaned against her staff and stared at her like a disappointed mother.

“Only twice,” Venera said, slinging her bow. Taking Novak by the reins, she led him to Kotev’s shop, and Reiko followed. “Thank you.”

“That’s still two times too many,” Reiko said as they walked through the town. “You have a bow, a sword, a shield. Why don’t you ever defend yourself?”

“I’m not about to kill someone over a piece of fur,” Venera said, keeping her eyes forward to avoid Reiko’s ire.

“I never said you had to kill them!” Reiko said, stepping in front and walking backwards. “Those two are cowards. All it would take is an arrow to the leg, and they would leave you alone. They only do this because you let them. What are you going to do when I’m not around?”

“Get robbed,” Venera said casually. “Like I do when you’re not around.”

“And you’re just okay with that?” she asked. Venera shrugged. Reiko buried her face into her hands and screamed. “How could you possibly be okay with that? I thought Kishal were meant to be proud and assertive? I don’t think any of your people would let themselves get pushed around so easily.”

“Well I’m not Kishal,” Venera said. “And I don’t want to be.” A lie. She knew it, and Reiko knew it. If her old tribe gave her the opportunity to rejoin them, then she would without a second thought. Reiko pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Look, if I fought back, someone would have gotten hurt. By just letting them take it, everyone walks away unscathed. Aren’t you supposed to be a pacifist anyway? I thought you’d understand.”

“No,” Reiko said, “not at all. We strive for peace, but if peace requires force, then so be it. At this point you’re just inviting them to bully you.”

“Is a pelt really worth fighting over?” Venera asked.

“That’s not the point! By letting them walk all over you, you’re giving them the impression that their actions have no consequences. What happens when they start picking on other people, huh?”

“Then those people can defend themselves if they want,” Venera said. They turned left, and the glow of Kotev’s forge could be seen down the road. 

Reiko shook her head and sighed. “You’re impossible.”

Upon their arrival, Kotev graciosuly accepted the pelt and immediately began work on her armor. They lingered by the warmth of his forge for a time, but not wanting to distract him, the two left. She had offered to teach Reiko how to skate, but the young monk had a sparring session to attend, leaving Venera alone with Novak. 

Before she went on her hunt, she had completed all the tasks that Nari had for her that day, so with nothing left to do, she returned to the stables with Novak. Her ebony stallion rested in a bed of hay, and she closed her eyes and laid right up against him. It was routine for them by that point. Most of the monks didn’t want her inside, and Venera, never one to start conflict, was glad to give them what they wanted.

“Heard you pissed off Reiko again.” Her afternoon nap was cut short before it could even begin. She opened her eyes, and Andre climbed down from the rafters. He ran his fingers through Novak’s mane before sitting beside her. 

“How could you possibly have heard that?” Venera asked. “It just happened!”

“I saw her in the courtyard,” Andre said, reclining back and folding his hands over his lap. “She was...well, _really_ eager to step into the ring with her sparring partner, and there’s only one person in this world that can get her that riled up.”

Venera sighed. “Look, Hitomi and Yezik came by, they wanted something from me and Reiko was mad that I didn’t do anything.”

“Ah,” Andre said. He chuckled. “Well if you’re not going to be mad at those two dunces, then someone has to pick up the slack. What was it this time?”

“They just...wanted a stupid pelt,” Venera said. “It was no big deal.”

“Mhm,” Andre said. “You know, next time I need anything, I think I should just rob you. It’s not like I’d be in any danger or anything.” Venera rolled her eyes, and he laughed. “Like Novak for example. He likes me, ain’t that right boy?” He scratched behind his ears and Novak hummed. “If I were to just...take him, what would you do?” Venera elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow! Did you just strike a prince?”

“Yes I did,” Venera said, grinning and crossing her arms. “What are you going to do, your grace? Arrest me?”

“I just might,” Andre said, rubbing his side. Her strike had been harder than she had expected, and she regretted the bruise that she might have given him. “Really though, it might be good to defend yourself for once.”

“And it might be good for you to stop running from home to spend time with peasant girls,” Venera said, smirking. “Really, what would your family think if they found out where you were right now?”

Andre smiled. “They’d probably be relieved,” he said, “They think I’m sleeping with men, so breaking bread with lowborn girls is certainly an improvement.”

Venera laughed. “What a terrible thing that would be,” she said just as a scribe from the monastery came running in. 

He shouted her name and caught his breath. “We need you inside. It’s your mother.”

\-------------------------------------------------

It had been seven years since Mother had last walked. In that time she was bedridden, crippled, pale, thin, sickly, but not weak. _Never_ weak. Mother knew many things, but not weakness. When the sickness that currently addled her had first shown its colors, it left her a consumptive wretch barely capable of speaking. The doctors and healers had given her six months. That was almost a year ago.

The broken head of Father’s horsetail standard, a piece of memorabilia that spent most of its days gathering dust in a chest, was proudly mounted by Mother’s bedside, and on her face she wore Father’s steel mask, removing it only to eat or drink. Kishal men would don their masks and raise their standards when they went to war, and Mother had declared war upon mortality itself.

It was a losing battle. The doctors knew it, Venera knew it, even Mother knew it, yet she fought anyway. Though after surviving several extra months out of pure spite, it seemed as though the battle was over. Every breath was weaker than the last, and as the sun set, her grasp on Venera’s hand slowly but surely loosened. Painful as it was to watch though, Venera refused to leave her bedside. Mother had been with her since birth, so it was only right that she remain with her until her death. Yet even as sun vanished over the horizon, pained, wheezing breaths indicated that Mother still refused to die.

Venera fell asleep on her chair, but come next morning, Mother’s hand was limply hanging off the side of the bed. Most would have wept, but not Venera. Even as her chest seemed to collapse in on itself, she managed to laugh. Of course Mother had passed in her sleep, for if Death came when she was awake, there certainly would have been a fight.

Nari, Reiko, and Andre offered their sympathies, but as much as she appreciated their support, Venera wanted, no, needed to be alone with Mother. She asked one of the stable boys for a cart, which he gave to her without question. After laying Mother upon it, she mounted Father’s standard right beside her. Novak gave a soft whinny, and he brushed his face against hers. His condolences were the only ones that mattered, and in that moment she allowed herself to shed a single tear.

Without telling anyone where they were going, Venera mounted Novak, and took Mother back to the land from whence she came. She didn’t know how long, or how far they had been traveling, but that was the point. Kishal were meant to be buried in unmarked, unfindable graves, and when Venera found a spot that she was certain to never return to, she began digging into the frozen ground. Once it was deep enough, she let the earth have her mother.

Hours passed, and Venera and Novak sat beside the snowless patch of dirt. They were Mother’s honor guard, her unwavering vigil who remained by her side despite the bitter cold, but as night came, she said her last goodbyes and rode back to the monastery. 

On the edge of the village however was a lantern held by Reiko, and beside her, Andre stood with a bottle of wine.

\-------------------------------------------------

The three of them remained in the stables that night, just as they had done many nights before. Andre was the chattiest of them, so they usually sat and listened to whatever mischievous stories he had. However this time, he and Reiko remained silent, and it was Venera who spoke.

Weeping, and sniffling, and sipping her umptheenth glass of wine, Venera regaled her two friends with stories about dear Mother. She told them of how she had bent her sewing needles into fish hooks, how she foraged through the night while her children slept, and how she made ice skates out of bone to chase animals across the ice, just like Venera had done the day prior. The two laughed and smiled, but she knew how much they cared, and their company warmed her more than the wine ever could.

“I...I told you both about my siblings, yes?” Venera asked. The two nodded. “Well, I had five of them you know. Five” She raised all the fingers on one hand. “My oldest brother, he chose to stand up to our tribe’s chief after our banishment. So of course, the chief decided to run him through with a spear. He was foolish, and naive, so of course he died. Next came my youngest brother. It was his first winter, he was just a baby, so naturally, he died too. Then came my oldest sister. A wolf bit her, and the wound festered. She was never the best at hunting, so fine, she died. We mourned, and we moved on.

“But then came my next oldest brother. He was smarter than me, stronger than me, was a better archer and rider than me. Mother put all her hopes in him, but after one bad fever, he was dead before next morning. All I had left was my younger sister, and if everyone else couldn’t survive, then why should she? Like I expected, she froze to death after falling through the ice on a river.” She finished her wine, and Andre was quick to pour her another glass. “So in a sane world, it would have been my turn, right? Well I waited, and I waited, and I waited, but nothing came. I became sick, but I got better. I was cold, but never froze to death. I was even bitten by a snake, but after a week, I still survived. 

“Yet somehow after all this time, it was my mother who went first.” She laughed, and wiped her runny nose. “My mother, the strongest person I ever knew, died, but I-” Her voice cracked, and she had to swallow the pit that had formed in her throat. “But I’m still here and...well I guess I’m still waiting for my turn.”

“Don’t say that,” Reiko said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure there’s a reason you’re still here. You just have to find it.”

Drying her eyes, Venera finished another glass. Andre was ready with the bottle, but she shook her head. “And what reason would that be?” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she laughed. “Is it your Great Spirits plucking the strings of fate?” She turned to Andre. “Or is it your God’s divine plan? Whatever it is, it better be worth having to live life all alone.”

Alone. That word was almost taboo in the Steppe. Men hunted together, they ate together, they lived together, they rode and fought together. The only thing they did alone was die, and she couldn’t even manage that. It was customary for Kishal to fall on their swords if their entire family perished, for to live life without family was not a life at all. Perhaps after a few more glasses of wine, Venera would be brave enough to enter the void. Though she had a feeling that Reiko and Andre, stubborn as they were, would stop her.

“You’re not alone,” Andre said, placing a hand over hers. “You have us.”

Reiko took her other hand. “You’ll _always_ have us.”

A sudden rush of tears came, and she pulled those two loveable fools into the tightest of hugs. The three of them embraced, and even Novak bent down to nuzzle up against them. No words were said, because they didn’t need to be. Perhaps this was why she was still alive, to love and protect the family that had chosen her. 

Outside, the winds blew foul, but the fire that the two had lit within her was enough to rage through even the harshest of blizzards.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
